Clockworks
by Din Kelion
Summary: A bit of insight on the Master of Time as he looks through the past, future and present. Seeing things that will happen, did happen… and things that could have happened. Tribute to all fans. Oneshot.


Clockworks

**Clockworks**

**CW**

Teaser: A bit of insight on the Master of Time as he looks through the past, future and present, seeing things that will happen, did happen… and things that could have happened. Tribute to all fans. Drabble.

Warnings: Well, a lot of things… mostly insinuations and then some obvious stuff. This fanfiction is most recommended for those that enjoy reading all kinds of DP fan fictions. Spoilers to TUE and PP.

Disclaimer: Characters and etc. are not mine.

A tribute to everything DP. From crack, alternate universes, to the good ol' canon.

**CW**

Time is a complicated idea that is hard to grasp. To simplify the concept of time, one would have to look into the perspective of something that has the mental capacity to understand that now was just a few seconds ago and tomorrow can be anticipated but never greeted. For example, time to a gold fish comes in two minute intervals. If you fed it one minute and fifty nine seconds ago it would forget that it already ate a second later.

Human's have a lengthier memory. Although it isn't a matter of remembering what you last did two minutes ago, or every single thing you did for the past three years, but the fact that you know that something happened three years ago and there was something in between it from now and then that makes it a memory that is three years old or two minutes.

Existing out of time means that Clockwork had to acknowledge that time was moving for him and even with the staff he held, he would never be able to stop time for himself.

That's if he ever wanted to. And being a Master of Time, Clockwork already knew that he would never want time to stop for him. He preferred it like that any ways. The time that ticked for him was the very clock that ticked inside of his chest. Eventually, he knew that the very ticking within his chest would still, but that would never mean that time will stop for him or anyone else.

Billions of humans have once wished for time to stop, rewind, and even speed up... and there are only a small few that have ever been granted the opportunity to alter time, but only a spare couple have ever realized that time can not be altered. Even if they see a result in their actions for changing time, time does not change…

Nothing is changed, but a new present time is created. And even then, that present time that was supposedly 'created' had already existed since time itself began.

Complicated- true- but to explain it; let's answer this question with a hypothetical question…

If Danny Phantom changed his future from becoming the world's most evil ghost, then what would have first encouraged Daniel to change the future if there was no evil ghost to not become?

Perhaps that doesn't make sense to a person thinking on a single dimension… But the small thermos sitting on a table composed of altered turning gears and a pendulum was proof of Daniel's 'hypothetical' task and Clockwork perfectly understood the given situation.

Daniel didn't alter his future… he altered the present world that belonged to Dan.

Time wasn't just a perspective as most humans are lead to believe…

Time was space; it was what will have happened; what did happen; and what _didn't_ happen.

**CW**

Clockwork resided within his time… Clocks ticked endlessly within his ears and gears clanked and groaned behind them. He never noticed their constant noise, but he knew they were there and he knew that each clock that ticked was just another time, another space, and another story different from his own.

Dark Danny was incoherently growling again as the thermos rattled in its place. Clockwork looked at it through his ruby red eyes and smirked vaguely. Dark had a long way to go before he broke free from that canister. Clockwork already knew of the events to occur around Dark and he knew that what will happen, will also be dealt with.

But until then, Clockwork turned to look over at a world that no longer contained Danny Phantom, the ghostly tyrant of both ghost and human society.

He floated towards a large round clock jutting out from the wall next to numerous others. Clockwork raised his staff and gently grazed the tip of it over the glass surface of the clock.

Like water, the glass rippled and clouded over…

Clockwork already knew what he was going to see, but it was a matter of doing what he knew he would do for the sake of not altering time and creating yet another space of time where he _did not_ observe over Dark Phantom's world.

Life was still bleak, but the grey cloud- so to speak- had lifted and the silver lining was just beginning to be noticed. Of course, it was the ghosts to first realize that Dark was gone and it didn't take long for them to over through his followers. Humans were managing, and as Clockwork gently touched his staff to the surface of the clock again, it showed that in about another four months and sixteen days, humans had finally declared the world free from Dark Phantom's grasp.

Cheering rose from the clock's face, deafening the ticking around Clockwork's ears. From behind him Clockwork managed to hear an enraged howl as Phantom too could hear the chanting of his long absence.

Clockwork passively chuckled while he sped through time and caught sight of Valerie five months and eight days after Dark Phantom's disappearance. She stood silently at the now decaying remains of a fast-food restaurant. Clockwork knew what she was doing…

Valerie sighed as she brought her hands to her shoulders and gingerly cradled her chest in a cold hug. The breeze felt so unnatural on her skin… She couldn't remember a time when she wasn't wearing a suit and soaring through the air, guarding all of Amity from ghost attacks.

The ghost shields have finally been shut down and people were now slowly preparing to adapt to their new freedom. Valerie knew she wouldn't stay here now that Dark Phantom was gone. She was going to travel with others and help establish new land. She knew it was going to take a long time to recover… but perhaps they might find other colonies of humans. Valerie didn't know if there were any other humans outside of Amity's ghost shield… But she was going to find out.

Clockwork knew she would.

He swayed his staff once more. Dark was hissing and cursing Clockwork's existence, but the ghost paid no attention to him. There was one more figure that he was 'curious' to observe. The glass rippled again and revealed a decrepit man walking slowly through the rusting halls of his hideout.

The past days had changed dramatically for Vlad Masters.

It has only been two days since he saw Daniel Phantom… the young boy that he had once rivaled against ten years ago; the same boy that he once hated because it was natural to do so until the day of his family's- and Maddie's- death.

That day when Danny phantom stepped out of his portal, Vlad was prepared to die. The radar's had alerted him only a minute before Daniel's arrival, so Vlad knew he was coming… But he didn't expect to see a fourteen year old teen that never experienced dieing on the lab floor step into his hideout or seeing his loved ones die.

Tempting as it had been to just kill the boy in hopes that it would restore the lives that were ruined, Vlad didn't hurt the boy… A visit to Clockwork had told him that even trying to kill Daniel from the past would have never changed the present world that he existed in. He didn't want to either way…This Vlad, Clockwork thought, would perhaps be the only human to realize that time cannot be changed.

However, the moment Vlad had removed the pendant from Daniel's body, he knew that things were going to change in his own world…

With the absence of Vlad Plasmius and Danny Phantom, Clockwork had to replace the two powers to retain a form of balance… But this time they were separate. Plasmius returned to Vlad and became hole while Danny Phantom remained bodiless as his solid remains were buried in Wisconsin.

Now that Vlad had his ghost half back, in addition to ten years of regret, he had a few plans set out… One of them was to find a lost little lost ghost that needed to be caught up with the events he had unknowingly caused.

Clockwork sighed softly and nudged the surface of the clock again. Vlad always had high expectations… No, correction… every Vlad always _will_ have high expectations. The clock clouded over and took on another form… Clockwork smiled lightly as he looked back at a pale faced ghost that took shape within the clock. He wore a hood that was nearly pulled over his red eyes and a jagged scar rested over the left side of his face. Not a single hair was different between the two. The other Clockwork returned the smile with a frown.

Clockwork may have been the Master of Time… but he was only the master of _this_ time. Yet, like the Clockwork that frowned back at him through the clock, he knew everything that will happen to him just as he knew everything that will happen to him, which would explain the irritated look.

There was an unspoken rule between all of the versions of himself that he has seen… All of them appeared to find it more appropriate to never talk to one another ever as it might cause a ripple effect amongst all of the other worlds. And even though Clockwork didn't mind having to watch over all of Time, it was considered best not 'discover' more time than they already have.

Clockwork prodded the surface of the clock once more with the tip of his staff, causing it to ripple and fade. It returned to its white face and roman numerals. The hands patiently continued to tick each second by.

Dark Phantom certainly left a mess in his world. Unlike this one; the very one that Clockwork lived in. Danny Fenton did not die in this time, nor did he become the worlds greatest evil…

Clockwork moved casually while he changed physical forms from a middle aged human to that of an old hunched over ghost. A bleached wiry beard nearly swept the floor as he moved along to another clock.

This one was a large grandfather clock with a golden tongue that swayed back and forth in its chest; much like the one inside of Clockwork's withered ribcage was doing. He gently tapped the surface of the clock with his staff. The torso and face of the grandfather clock shimmered whimsically before a scene began to play out slowly…

It has been a week since the world was saved by Danny Phantom, or as everyone now knew him… Danny Fenton.

Even though the world accepted him, life wasn't perfect for Danny Phantom. His parents accepted him as being half a ghost, but that didn't mean there were still many skeptics. There were fans as well… It would be hard to imagine that he wouldn't have fans all over the world. And now that his identity was revealed, he had become a celebrity. This included both the pros and cons of being a star.

For once, since the day he had saved the world and earned the respect and admiration from billions, he lost all of his privacy and freedom in the process. Now that Tucker was the mayor of Amity, he was currently in the 'I'm rich, I'm famous, and I can have everything I'd like' phase so there was close to no point in communicating with him. And Sam… well…

For the first time in a week, Danny Phantom had managed to slip away from his home- which wasn't very hard being who he is- and phase Sam out from her room to find a pleasant place just to hang out like they used to, alone. Sam's parents, unfortunately, became even more worried about Sam's philandering about with Danny when they discovered him being part ghost… But seeing as he was a hero, Danny hoped they wouldn't mind if he could have at least one relaxing moment this week with Sam.

The two were indeed in love, and as Clockwork watched Danny sit down in the chairs of an empty movie theater with Sam resting her head on his shoulder, he already knew that the two had one more adventure left before life began to settle between the two.

He touched the surface once more and time phased by in a shimmer… twelve years, eighty-seven days, and fourteen hours later. Sam was cradling a small child in her arms that was exactly one year old to 'this' day. After a long and exciting morning for the birthday child, who had fallen to sleep in Sam Fenton's gentle hold, her parents walked side by side through Amity's recreational park.

Danny smiled down at both child and mother. The warm breeze brushed through his raven black hair and the rustle of leaves accompanied the innocent sounds of activity within Amity. Life couldn't be any more complete for Danny on this afternoon walk. The same could be said for Sam as she gingerly shifted her sleeping child in her grasp and leaned over to Danny to kiss him.

It was a heartwarming scene, but for Clockwork, who not only knew of the eminent relationship between the two, but also knew that there were many other relationships that could have happened, and in those many other alternate time lines, it _did._

Clockwork tapped the surface of the clock, returning its original features as he sailed to another clock. This one was nearly jammed between two large gears that heartlessly turned with every tick that another clock made. Clockwork's form shrank to a small little ghost child in the midst of reaching out and tapping the surface of the Victorian clock. It chimed musically before its elegant designs faded and were replaced with a smile.

In this world, Danny Phantom was never born. Oh, but Danny Fenton appeared to be pleasant enough that he wasn't responsible to fighting ghosts. Instead, for the first time in his life, Danny was actually out on a date with one of the popular girls; Valerie grey.

At first, it was just for fun. Valerie thought it would be interesting to destroy the monarchy that was established by other popular students by dating Danny Fenton. After all, he was kinda cute… always had the time to hang out, and even though he never really quite fitted in with the other kids, Valerie thought that he was an honest guy…

She only really started liking him when he started ghost hunting, using some of his father's crazy inventions. He had guts. And all this time, Valerie thought he was just an experiment.

Whatever the case may be, Danny and Valerie had established a dual team for ghost hunting, and as Clockwork watched the years go by, their relationship changed from friends, to partners, and finally to lovers.

Funny how love can grow on people, like a fungus. And it doesn't discriminate either… Clockwork knew this to be true as he looked to a specific clock that could very well be the prime example that love can be blind. Very.

Clockwork moved towards the said clock, trailing over a few gears that formed the floor of his domain. He predicted the swing of a large hanging pendulum heading his way and ducked at the appropriate time to avoid it. His domain, Clockwork thought, could be rather dangerous if he didn't already know what was going to happen.

This clock was another grandfather clock, but its shape was rounded enough for a grown adult to step through. The mouth of the clock was decorated with a dragon's jaws and fangs that gapped over the face of the clock. The ghost tapped the glass casing of the gothic clock, causing it to groan with a low twang from a coiled wire behind its clock face.

The face vanished. A low laugh echoed into Clockworks domain as an old figure rested back in a richly embroidered chair.

Most of the Vlads that Clockwork had witness were typically bitter and coldhearted… This one was no different, however because of a little ghost boy, Vlad's heart had thawed significantly. Or so it will…

Currently, Vlad and Daniel were talking to one another. And for once, it did not involve witty banter. And Daniel was, by the looks of it, no longer a little boy as Vlad might have described him, but perhaps in his mid twenties. The two appeared to be exchanging talk about life as half ghosts; which was perfectly understandable since the two of them were the only known half ghosts in their world. But unlike the half ghosts that resided here in Clockwork's own time, these two had longevity.

And it had been over twenty long years since Daniel turned twenty six… again.

The two had found solstice with one another when the two had realized that time was playing a cruel joke.

Clockwork found this offensive, or rather, he did… Everyone loved to blame time for their problems. Typically, Clockwork thought it selfish to complain about the time they have… Would they prefer to have no time at all?

Nevertheless, Clockwork tapped the surface of the clock once more… It creaked and groaned again as time shifted once more. The two had grown closer to one another. Reluctantly so, Vlad and Daniel found that as the years went by it was harder to socialize and relied more to one another for comfort. Perhaps Vlad was an ego maniac, and perhaps Daniel saw the world as black and white, but like a cat and dog, they learned to put aside their differences and realize their similarities.

That was just one instance of strange romance that Clockwork had stumbled across through is observations. He had no opinion whatsoever about who falls in love with who, but he did find it interesting in the places where love can blossom.

However, not all worlds were happy for Danny Phantom… Not all stories are good.

Clockwork turned away and spotted a bold, square clock hung to a gear that never turned. It tocked more than it ticked, and one of the hands moved in the opposite direction. All of time was different and strange within Clockwork's domain, but just because this clock was odd- didn't mean that there weren't others just like it.

Once touching the square face of the clock, it clicked and played a small English chime- much like the London clock tower did. The face faded away to reveal what looked to be a perfectly normal day in the city known as Amity.

Though the sun shined, and the life seemed pretty ordinary, there was an air of the silence that rested over the town. It was almost as if the birds that sang and fluttered about so carefree were mocking the stagnant feeling that resonated from the town.

They knew they shouldn't have done it… they knew it all along that Danny Phantom was a hero- a boy that saved their lives more times than they could imagine. But like a mob, they feared the ghost. They couldn't understand why a ghost would try to help them… Danny Phantom confused them, so they feared him.

That is… until the day Danny Phantom was captured by the Guys In White. They had practically served the boy up to them on a silver platter.

It was also then that they realized that Danny Phantom was only a child…

Clockwork tapped the glass lightly, skipping ahead in time by two weeks and one day later…

Danny Fenton had been missing. The town had forgotten about Danny Phantom and their guilt in giving him up to the Guys In White. They were far to distracted by a family of terrified ghost hunters with a missing child and uncontrollable ghost attacks throughout the town… It was only then that the Guys In White discovered where Danny Fenton had gone…

Unfortunately, since they didn't realize they had a human child on their experimentation table, they failed to realize that the boy needed food and water. Of course, much rather than letting the world discover their terrible mistake, the government destroyed any records of Danny Phantom and pretended that nothing ever happened.

Another three days, Sam Manson couldn't restrain herself any longer when she watched Danny's parents interrogate anything that breathed a whisper of their son. She confessed Daniel's secret as a last resort.

What she didn't know was she was a little too late to save Amity's disregarded hero.

It was poor and miserable timing, thought Clockwork as he swayed his hand, returning the strange clock to its normal uneven ticking. A sorrowful fact in life was that some things happened too slowly to solve anything. Time wasn't perfect… if it was, there would have been no reason for Clockwork to be here.

Clockwork could help, he knew he could… But the keyword was: _Could_. In fact, he already knew that in another alternate timeline, he _did_ help pry Daniel from the grips of the government program. And so, it wasn't his place to help when he knew that if he did, he would only create another space in time.

Not everything was so pleasant for Danny Phantom, but he also knew that some bad things were not always for the worse… One narrow clock that clicked rather than ticked was a fair example that some downfalls had uplifting endings.

Clockwork's form shifted once again to a ghost in his prime. His red eyes flickered to the narrow clock as he neared it. The ghost of time repeated the actions that he had done so with every other clock he came across, causing it to click and whirr lightly before the thin window revealed an image of Danny Phantom hugging his sides as though his arms were he only things keeping him glued together.

Clockwork felt a pang of dislike… If there was any world that he harbored hatred for, it was this one… This was the one world where Clockwork _did not_ save Danny Phantom's family and loved ones.

The only differences from Phantom's world and the one he was watching is that Danny already _knew_ what was going to happen to him if he let himself give in to all his sorrows.

The boy was a miserable wreck. At the time, Daniel stood, hunched over the graves of his parents and his friends, looking at their tombstones in bitter silence. Vlad stood over him patiently, holding an umbrella open and over Danny's head.

The boy still had a choice… He could give up his emotions- all his pain and his anguish- and become the very ghost that had murdered his happiness, or he could deal with it. Frankly, Danny didn't like the latter choice, but a sense of knowing what will happen to Amity… to Valerie… the world… Even Vlad would be affected by his choice and he wasn't sure he would be able to deal with the guilt…especially since he figured that part of him would also die if he tried to choose his first choice.

Danny bowed his head, his bone white grip tightened to his black suit as he closed his eyes. Life wasn't fair to Daniel… and he didn't want to be fair back…

A hand reached out and gently touched Danny's shoulders. The boy flinched a little, but relaxed- even if it was Vlad's hand that was trying to comfort him. Danny already knew what Vlad must have been feeling… After all- the man poured out his feelings to him in the future… Perhaps it was the same now.

Clockwork urged time to move along faster…

Daniel chose to accept that his life was broken, but he didn't choose to let Vlad help him remove his ghost powers. And surprisingly, Danny was smiling again… it took some time, but Daniel was capable of feeling good for being alive once again.

He had found life changed when time moved on. Yes, his heart ached still when he remembered his first years as a half ghost- his family… Sam and Tucker… He knew these pangs will never go away, but he had others now that comforted him, held him together, and let him smile again.

Vlad turned out to be rather attached to Daniel. It was no wonder since he was the only half ghost in existence. Albeit, he was still power hungry- but his priorities had changed now… Family came before global domination, and it was a good thing that Danny got Vlad pretty side tracked from ruling both ghost and human world.

Vlad wasn't the only person that became a key part of his life, but the new faces that he had grown close to him. A teacher in his new school; next to Vlad, he was more of the 'gentle' side to Vlad's domineering half. Then there were two twins, a brother and a sister who had experienced a bit of their own hardships; and a wiry girl that quickly learned to push Daniel into action when- for the longest time- Daniel didn't want to do anything to help him self or others.

Although Daniel's life was mending, Clockwork still didn't like this world. It showed the more merciless side to him… and to think, if Daniel had caught him in a less-than-pleasant mood, he could have very well done the same as this Clockwork had done.

Time was extraordinary in all of its never ending versions, Clockwork thought as he drew away from the clock. His eyes fell down to the black swinging pendulum in his chest and closed his eyes.

_Tick…Tock…Tick…Tock…_ Clockwork could hear the endless pattern within his chest. Slow, patient and steady… It never sped up, and it never slowed down… Just _Tick… _and _Tock…_ He never wondered what could happen if he tried to stop it- he knew. However, there was always that curious urge inside him- the one small fiber of his being that wanted to pretend he didn't know everything that could and would happen- it wanted to reach out sometimes and squeeze that small pendulum. Just to see if he might see something different in contrast what he already knew what was going to happen. Yet it was impossible, Clockwork thought with a grim smirk. He knew everything and it was impossible for him _not to know._

Dark Phantom roused him from his thoughts. A hand had rose to the glass surface on his chest in his thoughts, and now he drew it back to his side as his eyes fell on the simple- dented- thermos.

"Have you started thinking about what I'm going to do with you when I get out of here?" Phantom's voice barked with a rough laugh as the container rattled again. Clockwork smiled lightly.

"I don't need to… I already know." Clockwork rested an elbow to the side of the table, looking down at the Fenton thermos with a small grin.

"Then you already know I'm going to shove your ticking carcass in between those infernal gears after I make a necklace out of your ears and break every bone in all three of your bodies?"

Clockwork chuckled dryly and pushed the Fenton Thermos on its side, causing Dark Phantom to angrily hiss.

"No… That has already happened in another time…" Clockwork's eyes wandered from Phantom's prison to his eternal domain. Hundreds of clocks stared back peacefully, ignorant of the other clock ticking around them; just as his world and all of the beings that existed in it would never acknowledge the other worlds that coexisted next to one another… Each of them different from a fraction of a second to billions of years…

"This time will be different…" Clockwork reached out and picked up the cylindrical container and set it down on a flat side. "It always will be."

**CW**

AN: Like I said, just a bit of insight on Clockwork's world(s) Hope I didn't make it too boring. Basically, this is just a good foundation that I, and others, can play with for making other fan fictions.


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